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Newsletter : 9fax0215.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Feb. 15, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 31
Families of Terror Victims Suing Iran
By IsraelWire
The families of two American Jewish students killed in terror attacks in Israel are suing Iran. In February 1996, 24 persons were killed in a Hamas terrorist attack, including two Americans, Matthew Eisenfeld of Connecticut and his girlfriend Sara Ducker, of New Jersey. The parents of the two American victims have filed a lawsuit in the US Federal Court in Washington, seeking $600 million in damages in accordance with the United States anti-terror law.
Ultra-Orthodox Allege Religious Persecution
By David Gollust (VOA-Jerusalem)
In Jerusalem, an estimated 200,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews turned out sunday for a demonstration against what they claim is religious persecution by the country's supreme court. Thousands of policemen kept them separated from secular Jewish counter-demonstrators.
A sea of ultra-Orthodox protesters chanting Jewish prayers crowded
a plaza near Jerusalem's Central Bus Station at the behest of
rabbinical leaders who say the Israeli Supreme Court is out to
destroy Judaism.
The ultra-Orthodox, who make up about 10-percent of Israel's
population, have been incensed by recent court decisions they say
threaten their way of life. The decisions include a preliminary
move to take army draft deferments from seminary students.
Demonstrators complained the high-court is controlled by leftist
judges with a secular agenda. One protester -- British-born David
Advernot -- told VOA the religious community in Israel feels
threatened:
"The purpose of this thing was because of the extreme anti-Semitism
against the ultra-Orthodox. So we are making a gathering to inform
the country that we are here. And we play a big role in this
country. There is big population which are ultra-Orthodox and
there's no reason why other parties not so religious as us, and the
Reform and other groups, should feel that they can control the
country especially the judiciary system and put down the
ultra-Orthodox."
Ultra-Orthodox leaders have coupled their complaints about the high court with bitter personal attacks on its members and particularly Chief Justice Aharon Barak, who has been assigned armed bodyguards because of threats against him.
The verbal attacks have spurred a reaction from non-religious
Israelis, who say the criticism of the judiciary threatens
democracy. Lawyer Rafael Shamir was one of tens-of-thousands of
secular counter-protestors who gathered in a park near the Supreme
Court:
"I came to protest and defend democracy. I think that the religious community is exaggerating with its fight against the Supreme Court of Israel. The Supreme Court of Israel is the defender of justice and the defender of the notions of democracy that we fight for."
Secular Israelis have long chafed over the disproportionate
political power wielded by ultra-Orthodox factions, who have
traditionally benefitted from coalition deal-making in the Israeli
parliament -- the Knesset.
Hebrew University political scientist Ehud Springzak says the fact
that secular groups quickly organized the counter-protest may be a
turning point in the long-running religious conflict in Israel:
"There have been many demonstrations over the years against the
ultra-Orthodox, against their political blackmail, against their
refusal to send their kids to serve in the military. This is not
new. What I guess is new is that once the ultra-Orthodox announced
that they were going to have this demonstration, the response was
very quick. There is enormous outrage among the secular or the
non-Orthodox about the demands, and especially about the attacks on
the Supreme Court."
Israeli authorities mobilized about 2,000 extra police from around
the country to separate the demonstrators. There were no serious
incidents.
Prime Ninister Binyamin Netanyahu, who relies heavily on Orthodox
factions for political support, had unsuccessfully appealed to
leading rabbis to postpone the protest. He called their charges
against the high court "upsetting and dangerous" and urged
restraint and moderation to prevent what he termed a "cultural
war" between religious and secular Jews.
Arafat's Electronically Equipped Cars Barred by Israel
By IsraelWire
According to a report in the Hamodia newspaper, three electronically equipped state-of-the-art cars which were being imported by the PLO Authority have been barred by Israel.
The Mercedes Benz vehicles were equipped with advanced technology
enabling the cars to identify and neutralize explosive devices on
the side of a road being traveled by the car. The cars also were
equipped with unspecified advanced weaponry.
According to the report, the cars also were equipped with advanced
technology capable of jamming radio communications at Israel's
airports.
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